Better Start Bradford marks ten years of transforming early childhood support as programme concludes
24 March 2026
After a decade of delivering life‑changing support for families with children aged 0–3 in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton, Better Start Bradford has concluded its ten‑year National Lottery‑funded programme – leaving behind a powerful and lasting legacy for the district.
Funded through the £49 million A Better Start initiative from The National Lottery Community Fund, Better Start Bradford was one of just five areas across England selected in 2015 for this long-term investment in early childhood development. The programme’s innovative partnership approach, strong community co‑production, and commitment to evidence-based practice have made it a national leader in early years transformation.
A Decade of Impact
Over 2015–2025, the programme set out to improve diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, speech, language and communication, and drive meaningful system change for families with very young children.
Across ten years, Better Start Bradford has:
- Delivered more than 30 services and behaviour-change campaigns
- Reached over 40,000 parents, carers and their 0–3‑year‑olds
- Engaged over 11,000 children in speech, language and communication support
- Trained 8,000 early years practitioners
- Facilitated 6,568 hours of student nursing and midwifery placements
- Invested over £2 million into improving parks and green spaces – totalling 25 acres
- Delivered Baby Week Bradford for eight consecutive years
- Provided £260,000 of funding to support 170 parent‑led groups
- Worked with more than 300 volunteers
These achievements have not only benefitted thousands of local families, but have also shaped early years strategy across Bradford. Key contributions include the development of the Talking Bradford speech and language pathway, startup funding for the district’s Adversity, Resilience and Trauma strategy, an enhanced health‑visiting offer, and influencing decisions around the local Start for Life programme. The Better Place Bradford initiative has also secured a further two years of funding to continue improving green spaces.
Baby Week Bradford, a week long campaign dedicated to Bradford’s babies that Better Start Bradford launched in 2018, will also continue in the safe hands of the Public Health team.
Legacy and Future Direction
Although the delivery phase of Better Start Bradford has ended, its learning and evidence base will continue through Better Start – Better Futures: From Conception through Reception Evidence (CoRE) Partnership, which brings Bradford community members and system leaders together to embed best practice and create sustainable early years improvements.
Gill Thornton, Director of Better Start Bradford, said:
It’s been a privilege to lead this programme. Over the lifetime of Better Start Bradford, we have delivered 30 projects and campaigns, a wide range of learning events, and thousands of free family activities and sessions.
Together with our Innovation Hub evaluation work with Born in Bradford, the Born in Bradford Better Start (BiBBS) cohort and our parent‑led activities funding, we have brought more than 40,000 children and parents into the Better Start Bradford family.
Through Better Start – Better Futures, we are ensuring the sustainability of everything we have learned and ensuring that the community voice stays at an equal level to those of early years system leaders. We have learned that we need to develop systems with the community, not just for them.
Access the Resources
The Better Start Bradford website hosts a wide range of toolkits, project impact summaries, podcasts, evaluation reports and learning generated over the programme’s ten years.
Visit: www.betterstartbradford.org.uk
About Better Start Bradford
Better Start Bradford is a 10-year programme (2015-2025) funded by The National Lottery Community Fund to help children in Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Little Horton get the best start in life. We have provided more than 22 projects for pregnant women and families with children aged under four. The projects will help to improve children’s social and emotional development, communication and language development and nutrition. www.betterstartbradford.org.uk
Better Start Bradford is part of the ten-year (2015-2025), £215 million A Better Start programme (ABS) funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. There are five ABS partnerships based in Blackpool, Bradford, Lambeth, Nottingham and Southend, all supporting families to give their babies and very young children the best possible start in life. Working with local parents, the partnerships have developed and tested ways to improve children’s diet and nutrition, social and emotional development, and speech, language and communication. The work of the ABS programme is grounded in scientific evidence and research.
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